EU reception conditions : a dignified standard of living for asylum seekers?

Citation: Vincent CHETAIL, Philippe DE BRUYCKER and Francesco MAIANI (eds), Reforming the common European asylum system : the New European refugee law, Boston : Brill Nijhoff, 2016, Immigration and asylum law and policy in Europe ; 39, pp. 269-316

This chapter, firstly, retraces the legislative history and comments on the turbulent negotiations that led to the adoption of the recast EU Directive in June 2013. It then critically analyses selected aspects of the recast Directive’s content and namely: the scope of the instrument; the detention regime; access to the labour market; level of material reception conditions available and, finally, norms governing the reduction or withdrawal of reception conditions.13 The analysis is informed by the latest case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and that of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), including pending cases. A further section undertakes an overall assessment of the instrument on the basis of three parameters: adherence of the adopted norms with fundamental rights, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR);14 the level of harmonisation achieved by the recast and, finally, the level of coherence between the recast Directive and the other asylum instruments. An ultimate section highlights perspectives that are raised by recent jurisprudence by European Courts and decision-making bodies.